Atmosphere - God Loves Ugly - 2002 - Rhymesayers
I'm sure Slug would hate the label, but God Loves Ugly is a masterpiece of "emo hip hop." Look at that cover. Not a flattering shot. Look at the title - self deprecation. Slug is "ugly" according to him. And God loves him. Look at the opening line "Atmosphere / and maybe you don't like us." Look at "Show Me" where he begs for "a pound or a hug," or "Fuck You Lucy" where he professes love for Lucy. This whole album is vulnerable, insecure, hurt. "Beat me down or beat me off." And the whole album is like that - quotable. But maybe the line "nobody sees tears when they're standing in a storm" is the most important. This is a record about bringing real feelings back to hip hop. And maybe this all sounds stupidly dramatic - and maybe it is - but somehow it succeeds. Atmosphere pulls all this off with straight faces. It's actually incredible how solid this exploration is. But part of it is the sincerity. Slug's love of hip hop is clear, so nothing feels shoehorned. Ice Cube is paraphrased on the title track, Mobb Deep on "Onemosphere." And part of that might be wearing a mask. Using lines from strong, confident rap songs to highlight insecurity. "Modern Man's Hustle" finds our storyteller trying to explain to his wife why the heck he's not home. And as hard as Slug tries to sound on the title track - comparing himself to a pimp, a captain on a sinking ship and a stepping razor, he does so over a classical-inspired piano motif while girls call him "so fucking ugly." Later he rhymes over a Radiohead sample - the first that I can think of in a hip hop song (so kudos!). This album is a crazy mess of feelings ranging from depressed, inadequate, cocky, optimistic, and everything in between. It was the aural equivalent of Slug's Live Journal feed (which was still a thing when this album was released) set to an hour of hip hop beats. And as horrible as that sounds on paper, it is fucking stunning on record.